A limited amount of graduate work completed at a regionally accredited North American institution prior to, or after matriculation in the Graduate School at UND, may be applied toward a graduate degree at the University of North Dakota. Graduate work is considered for transfer only on an individual basis and only after the student has completed satisfactory work in residence at UND. Those transfer credits approved by the studentÕs advisory committee and the dean of the Graduate School are included in the program of study for the UND graduate degree and only those transfer credits will be recorded on the UND transcript.

The basic purpose of the transfer policies is to ensure that transferred work is of comparable content, level, timeliness, and quality to that which would be taken at UND and included on the program of study for the degree. The following policies are generally applicable to the acceptance of the graduate work for transfer to UND:

1. The work must have been taken while enrolled as a graduate student in an accredited institution offering a graduate degree in the field.

2. The work must have received graduate credit at the institution where it was earned.

3. Only that work which will be less than seven years old at the time of the UND degree is awarded may be transferred, with the exception that work which was part of a completed prerequisite graduate degree may be transferred even though it is more than seven years old.

4. The student must have earned a grade of B or better in the courses offered for transfer.

5. Credits offered for transfer must not have been used to satisfy degree requirements for another degree previously earned or in process.

6. Work credited toward a master's degree from another institution may be accepted toward a specialist's or doctoral degree at UND.

7. Any additional transfer work to be applied toward the major area for the specialist's or doctoral degrees must be post-master's level and from an institution offering post-master's degrees in the discipline.

8. Additional transfer work (i.e., beyond the master's degree) from an institution offering only master's level work in the discipline may be applied to the minor or cognate areas of specialist's or doctoral programs.

9. Work from an incomplete master's degree program at another institution is transferable only to a master's degree at UND.

10. The amount of transfer credit that may be accepted toward the master's degree is one-fourth of the number of hours required for that degree (usually 8 semester credits).

11. The amount of transfer credit that may be accepted toward the specialist's diploma may not exceed one-half the course credits required beyond the master's degree (usually 16 credits) plus the masterÕs degree credits (usually a total of 48 credits).

12. The amount of transfer credit that may be accepted toward the doctoral degree may not exceed half the number of required credits beyond the master's degree (usually 30 credits) plus the master's degree credits (usually a total of 60 credits).

13. Students may transfer up to 32 semester credits of basic medical science courses, taken as part of a completed M.D. program, to the program required for the Ph.D. degree. To effect such transfer, in addition to meeting the usual requirements, students must pass a diagnostic examination over the subject matter of each of the courses, such examinations to be administered by the regular offering department. Such examinations must be completed and recommendations transmitted to the dean of the Graduate School by the advisory committee no later than the end of the first semester of enrollment in the Ph.D. program. On the basis of the examination results, transfer credit may be recommended, a student may be required to audit courses, or a student may be required to take courses for credit.

Some graduate degree programs, especially those with a significant research/ creative component, require that students spend a minimum period of time in residence during their course of study. The purpose of residence is to provide an opportunity for sustained and concentrated intellectual effort, to provide for immersion in a research environment, and to permit extensive interaction with fellow students and faculty of the major department.

In order to meet a residence requirement, a student (a) must devote full time to academic study and (b) must be registered for at least twelve credits in a semester or six credits in a summer session, or be a graduate teaching or research assistant.

The Residence Requirements are stipulated for each graduate degree program in this catalog. A year of residence requires two consecutive semesters of residence. Two years of residence requires four consecutive semesters of residence or three semesters and two summer sessions, all without interruption.

Off-campus graduate courses offered by the University of North Dakota through the Division of Continuing Education do not carry credit toward meeting the residence requirement.

Any exceptions to the policies stated above must be approved in advance by the student's advisory committee, the student's department, and the dean of the Graduate School.